At home I use Linux Mandrake, although the version of the kernel I had was patched with the ATM kernel source I did end up patching a different kernel source to get it working. Please, please inspect your kernel source to see if you have the PPPoATM source patched against your kernel. To do this go into you kernel source directory, usually /usr/src/linux and do a make menuconfig. In the Network Device Support section check for:

Network device support->PPP over ATM

If it does exist then make sure it is present it you current kernel and you can skim-read the "Patching you kernel" section to make sure you have the correc toptions compiled in and then carry on.

This was just a minor warning as I orginially had a kernel patched with PPPoATM and without realising managed to trash my kernel tree by trying to force the patch onto it.

I have had reports about different distros that have varying
PPPoATM support already builtin to the kernel:

Mandrake 8.0: The default 2.4.3 kernel already has the
PPPoATM patch applied, I cannot remember if it compiled in but ignore
steps refering the "Patching the Kernel" below. PS: You still need to
configure the kernel.

Mandrake 8.1: Mandrake 8.1 supports the Speedtouch
automatically, I have no had first hand experience but from what I can
gather you simply have to download the Alcatel binaries and then use
DrakNet to sort it out.

Debian: I have had reports that the standard Debian
installtion does not include libpam, this must be installed for the
PPPoATM plugin modules to work.

NOTE: From roughly kernel 2.4.16 the PPPoATM patch is included in
Linus' main source tree. Therefore you can miss out patching the kernel
and just configure it.

To get your Speedtouch USB working in Linux you have a fairly
heavyweight task ahead of you, but hey, if I could do it so can you!
This is what you'll need to get it working:

You must have the kernel source installed and
know the procedure for installing and compiling a new kernel.
If this is a problem then read the Kernel HOWTO.

You must be running one of the following
Kernels: 2.3.39, 2.4.0-test4, 2.4.1-pre7, 2.4.7, 2.4.8-pre5.
This is because the PPPoATM patch for the kernel exists patched
against specific kernels, some may work with similar kernel
versions but I cannot vouch for that

You, obviously, need a USB controller of some
description with at least one free plug. It also must be Linux
compatible, nowadays this is most USB controllers that are
UHCI/OHCI based. If you don't have one your local supplier
would probably have a PCI USB Controller.

A heap-load of confidence with meddling with
your config. eg: kernel recompiling, program
installation...

Once you have the PPPoATM kernel patch (this assumes you use
the patch against kernel 2.4.7) you need to make sure you have a
working 2.4.7 kernel tree, next unzip the PPPoATM patch by doing:

NOTE: From rougly kernel 2.4.16 (I haven't tested to see hwo far
back it goes) the PPPoATM patch is included in Linus' main kernel tree,
therefore you may skip the patching below and resume ready to configure
the kernel.

gzip -d pppoatm-2.zip

Next we will need to test-patch the kernel using the following
commands:

patch -p1 -s -E --dry-run < /point/to/pppoatm-2

If that ran without failure then patch the kernel by removing
the --dry-run as such:

patch -p1 -s -E < /point/to/pppoatm-2

That should have patched the kernel good-and-proper so we can
go ahead and configure it, make sure the following options are
selected along with your personal build options:

You have to make a choice here, if your USB controller is
UHCI based then select:

USB support->UHCI (Intel, PIIX4, VIA, ...) support

Alternatively choose:

USB Support->OHCI (Compaq, iMacs, OPTi, SiS, ALi, ...) support

You could select any of these as modules or compiled-in but as
I followed Chris Jones' HOWTO I compiled the all but UHCI/OHCI as
compiled-in code. Save the kernel config and compile the kernel and
modules as you normally do.

Now that the kernel will support using PPPoATM we can start
compiling the bits to run the modem. Well start with the Kernel mode
driver; first decompress the SARlib sources to a build directory.
(Personally I build all my non-kernel sources
in ~/sources) and do a
make on it. There is no need to do
a make install with this library.

Next return to your source root and decompress your Speedtouch
drivers (from Sourceforge not Alcatel!), go in there and do a
make, and then a make install.

Note: If you get an "Error
1" then check the Makefile for a line starting
SARLIB:= and check it points to the right directory, the
one where you just compiled SARlib.

Next install the Hotplug software and make sure it works. Once
you've done that decompress Alcatel's binary management software and
do a make on that. Then do a make
install, the clever bit here is their installation
registers the Speedtouch kernel driver and their binary to be run
when the USB device is "hotplugged" (or coldplugged) into the system.
Kiss goodbye to the hours of trying to writing modules
loading scripts that always fail.

Next install the new PPPoATM aware PPPd program, I had no luck
getting it compile from source on my machine so I used the RPM. Sorry
you're on your own there!

Next thing to do is get the link up and test it. If you've got
a nice distro like Mandrake you should find it will auto-init your
USB drivers and filesystem, if not then the following can be used:

/sbin/modprobe usb-uhci

mount none /proc/bus/usb -tusbdevfs

Next load the Speedtouch driver by doing:
/sbin/modprobe speedtch. Next use the speedmgmt
program to get the modem init'ed: /usr/sbin/mgmt.
After a while of the lights flashing on the modem the main console
(and/or the syslog) should report:

Once that's done you're in luck, now just configure the pppd
to autodial at startup (beyond the scope of this HOWTO, sorry!).
Hopefully HotPlug will get your device up and going before pppd needs
it! :).

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